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AN203 Flyer
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Angles · Relative · The jump

Angles 203

Fly angles in a back-fly slot

The back-fly follower slot: below and behind the leader, and the roll back to belly.

What the course is about

You'll learn to fly the back-fly slot on an angle behind a trained leader, hold it through changes of speed and pitch, and transition to belly for the breakoff. This follows Freefly 100 and Angles 101, for a controlled back-fly and a coached track. Angles 201, the belly slot, is the better first course.
In Australia, angle jumps at Certificate B are training jumps approved by the chief instructor.

What comes before it

Screen 2 · What you are watched on

What you are watched on

The same short list a coach ticks, in the same words. Nothing is hidden from you.

3.4 Safety critical
Hold the back-fly slot below and slightly behind the leader's line with a lateral offset, never letting the legs pass the leader's head, keeping visual on the leader throughout.

Can you hold the back-fly slot below and slightly behind the leader’s line (their head on the horizon), with a lateral offset, during moderate turns and pitch changes?

3.6
Follow the leader through briefed speed and pitch changes, re-establishing level and slot from the back.

Can you follow the leader through speed and pitch changes and re-establish level and slot from your back?

3.10
Transition between the back-fly and belly slots on the briefed key, remaining on level and in slot through the change.

Can you transition from back to belly, and belly to back, whilst remaining on level and in slot?

Screen 3 · Safety and altitudes

Safety and altitudes

Everything here is a recommendation with a reason behind it. The drop zone you are jumping at, and your own limits on the day, decide what happens.

Safety-critical items on the short list

3.4
Hold the back-fly slot below and slightly behind the leader's line with a lateral offset, never letting the legs pass the leader's head, keeping visual on the leader throughout.

Can you hold the back-fly slot below and slightly behind the leader’s line (their head on the horizon), with a lateral offset, during moderate turns and pitch changes?

Everything this course says about breakoff and deployment

1.4
State the breakoff and deployment altitudes and the lost-flyer plan: breakoff guide 5,000 ft for groups up to 4-way, 5,500 ft for 5 and larger (most modern jumpers plan 5,500 ft for movement jumps of any size), separating at least 1,000 ft above planned deployment. Movement-jump separation is designed on the ground, not improvised in the air.
2.1
Complete a movement-jump gear check on self and cross-check the group: hand-deploy BOC or pull-out, bridle fully covered, tight riser covers and closing loop, secure handles and clothing, helmet, audible set and functioning. Audibles fail silently, and an angle breakoff depends on hearing yours.
2.2
Walk the dive with the group, including the breakoff fan with eye contact between neighbouring flyers.
3.8
If left behind, keep flying the group's heading and closing correctly; stop closing by ~7,000–7,500 ft, hold the distance, and break off on the group's timing, not its altitude, because the classic pull-time collision is a trailing flyer still closing while the group slows to deploy.
3.9
Execute in-slot recovery immediately on any instability: keep speed on the group's direction and angle, never ball up, never track away; re-approach only when stable, and if separation persists, follow the group at a distance until breakoff.
4.1
Initiate breakoff at the briefed altitude (−0/+300 ft as a working guide).
4.4
Accelerate flat to build separation, then flatten and decelerate progressively before deployment.
4.5
Visually clear airspace in all directions before deploying at the planned altitude, never treating the deployment itself as clearing airspace: pulling dumps fabric into the airspace, it does not clear it.

The altitudes here are the guides this site recommends, with the reasons on the full course page. Where the drop zone briefs something different, fly what the drop zone briefs.

Screen 4 · After the jump

After the jump

From the course's closing section, review.

5.1
Debrief against the declared objective using the available footage, talking the coach through own heading, level, slot and altitude decisions.
5.2
Identify one fault and its correction for the next jump, and log the jump with criteria results against the back-fly stream.

One fault, one correction

Before the video, and before anyone else speaks, name the one fault from the jump and the one thing you will change on the next jump. Keep it to one of each, so you have one clear thing to fly.

Write them into your notes at the bottom of this card, and they will be here next time you open it.

Record this jump

You can record the jump yourself, because your own read of your flying is worth keeping. A record counts as verified once a coach signs it.

Your notes for this course

Saved on this device only, with no account. They will be here next time you open this card.

This card is a summary. The full Angles 203 course page carries the reasoning, the sources and everything left off here. All briefing cards.